The list is usually made by the owner, architect or designer, or general contractor while they tour and visually inspect the project.
[2] In the United States construction industry, contract agreements are usually written to allow the owner to withhold (retain) the final payment to the general contractor as "retainage".
According to the General Conditions (AIA A201 Section 9.8.2), the Contractor prepares and submits to the architect a comprehensive list of items to be completed or corrected.
[4] A rolling punch list is the most common approach towards managing these tasks efficiently and thereby minimizing the likelihood of having to grapple with large number of punch-list items at the end of a major project.
A rolling punch list entails constantly verifying the work status throughout the duration of the project, with a rigid closeout schedule being assigned to each task.